Ticket pad and dispensing tray therefor



Jan. 15, 1952 2 SHEETS-SHEET 1 Filed Dec. 25, 1948 Inventor m @W 6 M2 0 .Q

m A n Q Jam-15, 1952 v G. w. LUPPOLD George W. Luppo/d By flywi ih Patented Jan. 15, 1952 TICKET PAD AND DISPENSING TRAY THEREFOR George W. Luppold, Lowell, Mass., assignor to Sullivan Bros., Lowell,

trust Mass., a Massachusetts Application December 23, 1948, Serial No. 67,042

2 claimsJcl. 206-405) This invention relates to a novel ticket pad and a novel tray for holding such pad to facilitate dispensing of the tickets thereof.

While the articles of the present invention are capable of general use, they were primarily designed to facilitate the sale of tickets used in connection with pari-mutuel betting at race tracks.

The primary object of the invention is to provide a pad of tickets and a dispensing tray therefor, which are constructed so that the pad is ef-.

fectively held in the tray and the stacks of tickets of the pad are separated so that adjacent stacks are readily distinguishable from each other.

Another object is to provide a ticket pad em bodying a plurality of similar ticket sheets, each comprising a plurality of spaced tickets connected at corresponding ends to a common stub portion by widely spaced connecting portions which are so narrow and few that the tickets are barely joined to the stub portion and may be easily pulled therefrom with the application of almost unnoticeable force, the sheets being bound together at their stub portions so as to provide a pad having a plurality of spaced readily distinguishable stacks of tickets.

A further object of the invention is to provide an open-front elongated tray having bottom, end and back walls and provided with a plurality of uniformly spaced vertical transverse separator members or plates for reception in the spaces between the stacks of tickets of the ticket pad, the separator members being spaced from the back wall a distance substantially equal to the width of the stub portions of the ticket sheets so that said stub portions may be disposed in the space between the back wall and the separator members and may be engaged by said separator members to prevent forward pulling or movement of the pad from the back of the tray and thereby facilitate detachment of the tickets.

The exact nature of the present invention, as well as other objects and features thereof, will become apparent from the following description when considered in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a top plan view of a ticket pad arranged within a tray, the pad and tray embodying the present invention.

Figure 2 is a vertical transverse section taken on the line 2--2 of Figure 1.

' Figure 3 is a fragmentary vertical longitudinal section taken on the line 3-3 of Figure 1.

Figure 4 is a perspective view of the ticket pad,

drawn on a reduced scale.

Figure 5 is a perspective view of the tray, drawn on a reduced scale.

Referring in detail to the drawings, the present invention includes a ticket pad composed of a plurality of similar elongated ticket sheets 5 laid in a pile and bound together as at 8 along one longitudinal edge of the pile to form the pad. Each ticket sheet comprises a plurality of spaced tickets 1 connected at corresponding ends to a common narrow stub portion 8 by widely spaced connecting portions 9 which are so narrow and few that the tickets are barely joined to the stub portion and may be very easily pulled therefrom with the application of almost unnoticeable force. Each ticket sheet is provided near its bound edge with a longitudinal row or line of elongated die cuts 10 which define the narrow and widely spaced connecting portions 9 therebetween. These die cuts or slits are distinguished from perforations such as are commonly used to provide a weakened line to facilitate separation of sheet portions, because said perforations leave numerous closely related connecting portions thatrequire the sheet portions to be torn apart by the application of appreciable force and by reason of which there is a definite chance of tearing the ticket portions instead of separating them at the perforations, unless considerable care is exercised. The tickets of each ticket sheet are appreciably spaced by cutting slots ll of material width in the sheet from one or the unbound longitudinal edge thereof to the line of die cuts or to a point short of the other or bound longitudinal edge of the same. Thus, when the ticket sheets are bound together, a pad is produced which includes a plurality of materially spaced stacks of tickets. This is readily distinguishable from mere slits between contiguous tickets as heretofore provided.

The present invention also includes a special elongated tray for reception of the present pad of tickets to facilitate dispensation of the tickets, one by one, as they are sold. This tray is open at the front and includes a flat bottom wall l2, flat end walls [3, and a flat back wall M. A plurality of uniformly spaced vertical transverse separator members or plates [5 are rigidly secured on the bottom wall l2 in positions to be received in the slots I I between the stacks of tickets, and these separator members are spaced from the back wall M a distance substantially equal to the width of the stub portions 8 so that the latter may be disposed in the space between said separator members and said back wall as shown, when the pad is placed in the tray, the

separator members engaging said stub portions between the stacks of tickets to prevent forward pulling or movement of the pad from the back of the tray and to thereby facilitate detachment of the tickets. The tray and-separator members are preferably formed of sheet metal, each separator member having a flat lateral base flange l6 welded on the bottom wall l2 and serving to space said separator member from the next separator member. The forward portions of the end Walls 13 and the separator members l5 preferably have forwardly inclined upper edges H to permit the salesman to dispense the tickets without interference.

The tickets are printed with a distinguishing key letter 18 near the bottom edge, and those in each stack are consecutively numbered beside the key letter as at N.

From the foregoing description, it will be seen that the in en ion provides means whereby th tickets may be speedily taken from the pad. It is not necessary for the user to first separate the top ticket from the rest of the stack of which it is a part. The salesman merely places the index and middle fingers of' the right hand on the top of a stack of tickets, places the thumb of the same hand on the lower left hand corner of the stack, and then simultaneously raises the thumb and draws the mentioned fingers to the left of the thumb and forwardly. When this is done, the top ticket will be detached from the stub portion and will come off of the stack so that by further raising the thumb the ticket may be grasped between the thumb and index finger. This operation may be accomplished by a left handed person by reversing the direction of moving the fingers laterally. By giving the tickets key letters and numbering those in each stack consecutively, a supervisor of ticket sellers has only to check the numbers on the tops of the stacks against the ticket sellers funds. If there is any variance, the individual stacks may be checked for missing tickets by riflling the stacks and observing the numbers as they go by. Thus, audit of the sold tickets may be speedily completed. As is old and well known in the rack art, a plurality of the trays may be assembled to form a rack in which the trays are disposed in stepped or terraced relation so that all are readily accessible.

From the foregoing description, it is believed that the construction, manner of use and advantages of the present invention will be readily un- 4 derstood and appreciated by those skilled in the art. Modifications and changes in details of construction are contemplated, such as fairly fall within the spirit and scope of the invention as claimed.

What is claimed as new is:

1. The combination with a pad of tickets composed of a plurality of similar elongated ticket sheets bound together in a pile along one longitudinal edge of the pile, each ticket sheet comprising a plurality of tickets connected at corresponding ends to a common narrow stub portion by connecting portions that barely hold the tickets to the stub portion so that they may be detached from the stub portion by the use of very little force, the tickets of each ticket sheet being materially spaced apart so that the pad provides a plurality of materially spaced stacks of tickets, of an open front elongated tray in which said pad is disposed to facilitate dispensation of the tickets singly, said tray having a back wall and being provided with uniformly spaced vertical transverse separator members received in the spaces between the stacks of tickets, said sepae rator members being spaced from the back wall to engage the stub portions between the stacks of tickets and prevent forward movement of the pad from the back wall of the tray.

2. The construction defined in claim 1, wherein said separator members comprise sheet metal plates having lateral base flanges, the tray further including a fiat bottom wall to which the base flanges of the separator members are fixed, the base flange of each separator member serving to space a next adjacent separator member therefrom.

GEORGE W. LUPPOLD.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 235,138 Donker Dec. 7, 1880 409,730 Brown Aug. 27, 1889 581,238 Mautz Apr. 20, 1897 1,418,324 OConnor June 6, 1922 1,493,252 Dukehart May 6, 1924 1,619,420 Hoth Mar. 1, 1927 1,927,266 Huttner Sept. 19, 1933 1,976,612 Guth Oct. 9, 1934 

